Chapter 46
"The purpose of the Trial of Concealment Within Corpses, Liu Xin," he said, his voice returning to its lazy tone yet strangely resembling a lullaby chanted by a priest at a funeral rite, "is not merely to make you immune to death. That is only a side effect—a bonus, a small reward from the universe because you dared to die ten times without complaint. Its true purpose is far more fundamental, far more important, far more… transformative."
He raised both hands, and between his open palms, his 9,999 Heavenly Longitude began to appear one by one.
Not like lamps being lit, but like stars being born in a dark night sky, pulsing with a rhythm that was strangely ordered, like a heartbeat within a womb not yet ready to give birth.
"We will transform these meridians," he continued, his lazy eyes fixed on Ling Xu with a gaze he had never shown anyone—a teacher's gaze that knew his student would understand, that his student did not need persuasion, that he only needed to hear and then he would know what to do, "into Falling Crystals. Not just any crystals—crystals that will become the foundation of our power in the Vast Cosmos, crystals that will pulse within our chests like ten suns that never fade, crystals that will make even the Gods of the Heavenly Longitude realm kneel as we pass."
Hearing that, Ling Xu felt his chest tighten.
Not because of the cancerous plague, but because of a sudden clarity that emerged in his mind, like a lamp lit in a room long shrouded in darkness, like mist suddenly dissolving to reveal a path that had always been hidden behind it.
"1,000 Longitude for one Falling Crystal seed," he whispered, his voice nearly inaudible within the silence of the meditation chamber, a silence deeper than the vacuum of space, his eyes fixed on his own palm now glowing with a color like emptiness itself, like the space between stars untouched by light, time, or death.
"5,000 Longitude for five seeds. 9,999 Longitude for nine seeds—and one additional seed."
For ten full days within that silent and dark meditation chamber, Ling Xu screamed.
Not ordinary screams born from physical pain, but groans that came from his chest, from the axis of his cultivation, from the 9,999 Longitude being forcibly transformed into crystals—groans that sounded like a mother giving birth to a child that was never asked to be born into this cruel world, groans that made Huan Zheng, seated before him, occasionally open his eyes just to ensure that Ling Xu was still alive, still breathing, still not giving up midway, even though each death he experienced within the Trial of Concealment Within Corpses felt like a thousand blades piercing his body from within at once.
"The first death… the second… the third…" Ling Xu whispered between his groans, his voice hoarse as his throat had long dried from screams that never truly ceased, his eyes red with tears.
Not tears of sorrow, but of pain beyond words, because pain born of death has no language, no color, no form.
Only a cold, silent darkness more terrifying than anything he had ever felt when his mother was violated before his eyes.
Huan Zheng, who witnessed all of it, remained silent, offering no comfort, giving no command to stop, because he knew there was nothing that could comfort someone dying ten times, that the only way to pass this trial was to pass through it, that words would never be enough to lighten the burden of ten deaths that each cultivator must endure alone to step into the Vast Cosmos.
And on the tenth night, when Ling Xu's final groan turned into quiet sobs, and those sobs turned into silence, and that silence transformed into a pulse—a steady pulse, a powerful pulse, one he had never heard before in his entire life—the pulse of a single Falling Crystal he had successfully refined within his chest, beating together with nine other crystal seeds not yet completed but already beginning to glow like nine stars waiting to be born in the dark night sky—Huan Zheng opened his eyes and smiled.
"Congratulations, Liu Xin," he said, his voice lazy as always, yet beneath that laziness lay a pride he could not conceal, a pride that made Ling Xu, still weak and drenched in sweat and tears, smile as well, even though he did not fully understand what had made Huan Zheng proud.
"You are now officially a Vast Cosmos cultivator. With one perfected Falling Crystal, and nine Falling Crystal seeds waiting to be refined."
Before their feet could touch the ground outside the meditation chamber, before the stone door pulsing with the rhythm of the universe's heartbeat fully opened, Huan Zheng raised his hand, signaling Ling Xu to sit back down.
Not because he wished to delay their freedom, but because there was one more thing he had to say, something that, if left unsaid now, would make their journey in the Vast Cosmos like that of a blind man walking along the edge of a cliff without a safety rope.
"The methods to refine the remaining nine Falling Crystal seeds, Liu Xin," he said, his voice suddenly more serious, more measured, like a lecturer teaching in a silent hall, "there are two ways. First, by seizing seeds from others—meaning killing fellow Vast Cosmos cultivators and taking their crystals. This is the fastest method, but also the most dangerous, because you never know whether your target possesses five, six, or seven crystals, and you, with only one, will die before you can even blink."
He raised his index finger, and at its tip, a small point of light pulsed.
Not a golden light like the Star of Humanity, nor a pale blue light like the Heavenly Longitude, but a blood-red light, like the color of the sky at dusk when the sun is about to die, leaving the world in darkness.
"The second, by undertaking missions—whether assigned by the higher authorities in the cities that still belong to this fifth sky city, or missions that arise from the universe itself, such as saving a planet about to be struck by a massive meteor, or killing interdimensional beasts threatening the balance of star clusters, or other tasks that only cultivators of our level can accomplish. This method is slower, more tedious, but also safer—because you do not have to kill fellow cultivators who may one day become your allies in a war against the Supreme Court of Humanity."
Hearing that, Ling Xu nodded slowly, his dim eyes suddenly gleaming with a curiosity he could not hide.
Not because he was drawn to missions or killing, but because he was curious, because he wanted to know how far the power he had just gained could take him, how far the single crystal in his chest could carry him to heights beyond before, how far the nine unfinished seeds would lead him into adventures he had never imagined back when he was merely a wandering physician mixing herbs in a dilapidated hut that had once been a god's stable.
To be continued…